North Hunterdon fencing teams sweep past Voorhees

LEBANON TWP. — Intra-district high school rivals North Hunterdon and Voorhees got together for a holiday break matchup Friday morning, with NHHS claiming 17-10 victories in the girls and boys competitions.

Sabre led the way for the North girls with Sarah Looney, Joanna Scuteri and Crystal Schutts pacing the squad to an 8-1 showing, which included a victory by newcomer Nikki Wei.

As the first weapon to be fenced in each round, sabre can set the mood for the entire meet. NHHS coach Matt Maurella was extremely pleased with his first weapon’s showing.

“The girls came out fired up right away,” he said. “Sarah was great, the whole sabre squad set the tempo for our team. We’ve had some slow starts in the past, but they really set the stage for the whole team.”

While NHHS dominated sabre, Voorhees, led by 3-0 showings from Torie McDermott and Riley Uzzo, held the edge in foil. The strong foil performance and a good first round of epee allowed the Vikings to hold a 5-4 lead after the first round before the visitors pushed back to gain a 10-8 lead heading into the final round.

Looney and Co. surged forward to start the third round, rattling off four consecutive victories to decisively clinch the match at 14-8.

In epee, Kendra Quiroz went 3-0 and Kristian Wu 2-1 for NHHS while Haley Mauriello went 2-0 in the weapon for Voorhees.

On the boys’ side, North Hunterdon coach John Reid saw much of the same out of his squads, with sabre again playing a decisive role in the victory.

Zach Pawlikowski and Ben Sharp each went 3-0 in sabre to keep the momentum on the Lions’ side as they won all three rounds, eventually clinching at 14-11.

“Those guys in sabre came out and really fenced like they can,” said Reid. “I really expect a lot of good things from them this year.”

Reid was also pleased with his foil line, which was missing its top fencer, Albert Zhang. For the second meet in a row, Ross Monteith provided the stability the line needed, going 2-0 to improve to 4-0 on the season. Reid said he has seen big changes in Monteith this year.

“He’s been consistent for us,” said Reid. “He’s more mature, more confident in himself, he has his head in the right place and is fencing very well for us.”

Both Maurella and Reid know the victories were important for their respective squads.

“We always look forward to fencing Voorhees,” Maurella said. “It’s a great rivalry and we kind of judge where we are in the season by how we do against them. The last few years we’ve been creamed by them, so it was really nice to get a win.”

Reid agreed.

“This meet is always friendly, but intense,” he said. “We are sister schools, we share the same district, the kids all know each other and it’s fun. Voorhees is always a friendly and encouraging opponent. It’s a really good rivalry.”

The NHHS teams improved to 1-1 while both Voorhees teams dropped to 0-2. All three local teams, including Hunterdon Central, will be in the Cetrulo and Santelli tournaments this weekend at the Morristown Armory.